"Go! Split up and capture those humans!" Arlong ordered his Fish-Men. "Once we catch even one of them, Nami will have no choice but to submit to me!"
The panic that had previously clouded the Fish-Men's faces instantly vanished. They knew Nami was too kind-hearted to stand by while the villagers' lives were threatened. The Fish-Men quickly scattered, chasing after the fleeing villagers with their superior speed and strength.
"No!" Nami's face filled with despair once again. She dashed toward one of the Fish-Men, reaching out with both hands. As soon as she touched him, the Fish-Man trembled violently before collapsing to the ground, smoke still rising from his body.
"Move faster! Don't let Nami touch you!" Arlong barked. Seeing his subordinate fall so easily from a single touch, his face twisted with irritation. He knew that if they could capture even one villager, Nami would be forced back into his service.
Arlong had already made up his mind—he would get his hands on a Seastone collar from the Grand Line. Once Nami was shackled, she'd have no choice but to make sea charts for him. And if powerful enemies ever came along, he would use the villagers' lives to force her into fighting for him.
"Sha-ha-ha-ha!" The thought made Arlong burst into wicked laughter. He could already see his empire expanding across the East Blue, and eventually, even the Grand Line.
Nami's speed was impressive; she had already taken down three Fish-Men in quick succession. But there were just too many of them. The Fish-Man at the front of the pack had already caught up to Gen.
Gen, holding a sword, turned to face the Fish-Man, fully prepared to die. Even if it cost him his life, he wouldn't become a burden to Nami.
"Ha-ha-ha! Weak human, you'll be my prisoner now!" The Fish-Man sneered as he reached out to grab Gen, completely unafraid of the sword in his hand. To him, it was no more dangerous than a stick.
Gen swung his sword with all his strength, but the Fish-Man effortlessly caught the blade and snapped it in two. With a cruel grin, he reached out both hands to seize Gen.
"No!" Nami screamed, racing toward them.
"It's too late, Nami!" The Fish-Man laughed, knowing she wouldn't reach them in time.
But just then, a rumble of thunder echoed from the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck down from above.
Crack!
Blinding lightning flashed, and the Fish-Man was instantly reduced to a charred husk, his body collapsing and scattering like ash.
That terrifying lightning wasn't Nami's doing.
At the same time, several more bolts of lightning struck the ground in front of the Fish-Men chasing the villagers, causing them to freeze in fear.
"Cowards. If you want to fight, do it head-on and stop scheming," came a calm voice.
Sanders, Issho, and Robin stepped out from the shadows. Lightning still crackled around Sanders' fingertips.
The sudden appearance of the three pirates sent shockwaves of fear through Arlong and his crew. They stared at Sanders in disbelief.
"Who are you?!" Arlong snarled. "How dare you interfere with my business! Are you looking to die?"
But Sanders and the others paid him no attention.
"Little navigator, the powers of the Goro Goro no Mi aren't meant to be used like that," Sanders said with a chuckle, looking at Nami.
"Goro Goro no Mi?" Nami blinked in confusion.
"Picture yourself controlling lightning. Feel the power coursing through your body and direct it outward," Sanders instructed her.
"Like this!"
He extended his finger, pointing toward the main gate of Arlong Park. Lightning gathered at his fingertip, then shot out, striking the gate with a deafening boom.
The massive wooden door was instantly shattered by the lightning strike, and Arlong jumped in shock, cold sweat dripping down his face. What had he just heard? The Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!
Wasn't the Rumble-Rumble Fruit the ability of that monstrous genius from the Marines? If Nami really ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, does that mean that monster who escaped from Impel Down is dead?
Moreover... Arlong glanced at Sanders with growing suspicion. This man was also using lightning powers—what was going on?!
He wasn't an ignorant villager; he knew that each Devil Fruit was unique. The more he looked at Sanders, the more familiar he seemed. And the mention of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit... Arlong's face suddenly paled.
Damn it! Why was this guy here in the East Blue? He shouldn't be in this remote sea! The New World is where monsters like him belong—why would he come here?!
Nami stood staring at the splintered remains of the gate, her mouth hanging open in amazement.
"I can do that too?" she asked in awe.
"Of course," Sanders smiled. "Believe in yourself. You don't even need to touch these fishmen—you can fry them from a distance with your lightning."
Sanders' smile widened as he encouraged Nami. "Now that no one can harm the villagers, go ahead and defeat all of these fishmen. Think about all the pain you've endured over the years. Think about your foster mother. Strike down this darkness with thunder and claim your new life!"
As he finished speaking, Sanders shot a bolt of lightning at the ground in front of the fishmen, leaving no room for misinterpretation: this was a warning.
Nami's mind flashed with images of Bell-mère—her voice, her face. She remembered the scene where Arlong shot her, his twisted laughter echoing in her memory. Her body began to glow with lightning as anger surged within her. With a single thought, electricity gathered in her hands.
BOOM!
Thunder cracked, and lightning struck a fishman, electrocuting him on the spot. From Sanders' perspective, it was only a few hundred thousand volts, but it was more than enough to fry these fishmen lackeys.
Nami's eyes lit up. "I can really control lightning—this is incredible!"
The remaining fishmen, witnessing the scene, were terrified and backed away in panic. None of them could have imagined they would one day be the ones at the mercy of another. If they had been inside their base, with access to seawater, they might have had a chance to escape or use it to attack Nami. But out here, with no water in sight, Nami was an unstoppable force to them.
Some of the fishmen tried to flee, only to be herded back by Sanders' lightning strikes.
"Damn it! Sanders! You're that traitor—the Thunder God Sanders!" Arlong finally lost his composure, screaming in despair.
Sanders raised an eyebrow and replied casually, "Oh? You recognize me?"
"I thought this backwater place wouldn't know who I was."
While newspapers circulated far and wide, not everyone recognized the people on bounty posters. It was similar to how Luffy, at the start of his journey, had no idea who the Warlords of the Sea or the Four Emperors were. The world was vast, and many places were isolated from information.
"Sanders! The Thunder God Sanders! How is he here?!" "We're doomed! We're all dead!"
"That's the guy who defeated an Admiral! Run!" shouted the other fishmen, their faces twisted with fear as they desperately tried to escape.
"His name is Sanders?" Nami thought to herself as she glanced at Arlong, who was now trembling in fear. Thunder God? A Marines traitor?
This guy seemed like someone very powerful—and to think he came all the way here to recruit her as a navigator!
The villagers exchanged nervous glances. They finally realized that the pirates who had come for their Nami were no ordinary crew—they were extremely powerful. Even these monstrous fishmen, whom they had feared for so long, were now trembling at just hearing his name.
Arlong, drenched in sweat, gritted his teeth in despair. "So it really is you!" he shouted, his voice cracking with fear. "Why are you here in the East Blue? Shouldn't you be in the New World, fighting against those monsters?!"
Right now, Arlong's heart was filled with hopelessness. He had never expected that in this remote village in the East Blue, he would encounter such a notorious pirate. This was someone who had defeated a Marines Admiral! The mere thought of it made Arlong's heart sink.
He remembered all too well the helplessness he had felt when Admiral Kizaru had captured him years ago.
"I'm here to find my navigator," Sanders said with a casual smile, pointing to Nami.
"Damn it!" Arlong cursed under his breath, knowing he was finished. He had no idea how Sanders had learned about Nami, but he understood that he had lost.
Without hesitation, Arlong turned and dashed toward the base, aiming to reach the connected sea beyond. As long as he could dive into the ocean, even someone like Sanders wouldn't be able to touch him. In the water, Arlong was invincible—no matter how strong a Devil Fruit user was, they would never stand a chance against a fishman underwater. In the sea, Arlong would even dare to challenge Whitebeard!
If Sanders knew what was going through Arlong's mind, he would probably roll his eyes hard. At Whitebeard's level, even underwater, Whitebeard could crush Arlong easily. Compared to Jinbei, Arlong was nothing but a small fry, a petty thug—completely insignificant.
"Arlong's trying to run!" Nami shouted in alarm as she saw Arlong making a break for it. Panicking, she tried to summon lightning to stop him.
Sanders said calmly, "Issho."
Issho, with a gentle smile, took a step forward and tapped the ground lightly with his bamboo sword. An invisible force spread out and enveloped Arlong. In an instant, Arlong collapsed to the ground, like a dog unable to move.
He felt as though his whole body had grown several times heavier, so much so that he could barely move, let alone stand.
"Huh?" Nami's eyes widened in disbelief as she watched Arlong fall flat on his face.
" Issho is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user," Robin explained kindly, like an older sister. "He ate the Gravity-Gravity Fruit and can manipulate gravity."
"Gravity Fruit?" Nami blinked, looking at Issho in confusion but nodded slowly.
"Now," Sanders said, turning to Nami, "you can finish off these fishmen yourself."
Nami snapped back to her senses, summoning lightning once more. She zapped the remaining fishmen, one after another, as they ran in panic. But they didn't get far—soon enough, Nami had defeated them all.
Before long, all the fishmen lay on the ground, except for Arlong.
Sanders glanced around but didn't see Hatchan among the defeated. He figured Hatchan must not be there, which was good—he wouldn't have to kill him, sparing Rayleigh's face.
At that moment, Issho released his gravitational hold on Arlong, and the fishman leader struggled to his feet, trembling.
"You... you actually got the favor of Sanders," Arlong said with a bitter, twisted smile. "You don't even know how powerful he is. You're incredibly lucky, you know that?"
Arlong knew that his time was up. He wouldn't survive today.
Nami stood in front of him, her face full of hatred. "Arlong! You bastard! This is for Bell-mère! Pay with your life!"
She gathered all her remaining strength and unleashed her most powerful lightning bolt at Arlong.
Boom! The lightning hit him, sending Arlong flying, crashing hard into the ground. His body convulsed a few times before he passed out.
Though Arlong was seriously injured, his fishman physiology allowed him to survive.
Nami walked up to his unconscious body, raising her hand to deliver the final blow. Genzo and Nojiko, watching from the sidelines, felt a pang of pity—not for Arlong, but for Nami, who was still so young and about to kill someone.
"Captain?" Robin asked, turning to Sanders with concern. "She's still just a kid."
Sanders nodded. With a flick of his hand, a bolt of lightning, ten times stronger than Nami's, struck Arlong, turning him into a charred corpse.
The sudden shift startled Nami, and she turned to Sanders.
"You've already defeated them," Sanders said with a kind smile. "I'll take care of the rest."
Raising his hands slightly, Sanders summoned a storm of lightning from the sky, striking down all the remaining fishmen. Each one was instantly killed by the powerful bolts.
He had killed plenty of people before—what difference would a few more fishmen make?
Genzo, Nojiko, and the other villagers looked at Sanders with deep gratitude in their eyes. "Thank you."
Nami's voice trembled as she whispered, "Thank you."
Truth be told, she had hesitated just moments ago.
"All right," Sanders said, smiling warmly. "Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Sanders, captain of the Thunder God Pirates." He gestured toward Issho. "This blind man here is Issho, our vice-captain and also a swordsman."
Issho smiled and nodded at Nami.
"And this is Nico Robin," Sanders continued. "She's a brilliant archaeologist."
Robin smiled gently as she patted Nami's head. "Thank you... thank you all so much."
Tears welled up in Nami's eyes as she looked around at the lifeless bodies of the fishmen. With a deep bow, she expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Sanders and his crew.
Sanders smiled back. "Now, go gather the villagers and take back all the treasure the fishmen stole from you."
Nami quickly ran to the villagers of Cocoyasi Village. "Everyone! I did it!" she cried out. "The village will no longer be ruled by the fishmen!"
"Hooray!" The villagers erupted in cheers, their voices filled with excitement and joy.
With Nami leading them, they rushed to Arlong's base, tearing it apart and retrieving all the treasure that Arlong had plundered from them over the years.
Genzo and Nojiko approached Sanders and his crew, their faces filled with gratitude. "Thank you, thank you so much!" Genzo said, his voice full of emotion.
He wasn't just grateful that Sanders and his crew had saved them—he was thankful they had freed Nami.
"No need to thank us," Sanders said with a wave of his hand. "Nami is one of us now."
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T/N:
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